Not Alone
by Crystal Dragoness
Summary: But as everyone else was celebrating the passing of the old and the beginning of the new, one solitary voice, in the isolation of his room, whispered, “Happy Birthday…”' Renx? OneShot?


Hi-Hi! It's Saddie here to express her new obsession, Shaman King, or moreso, Ren! XP Man... I have _no_ idea what genre this is... uu Meh, ah well... This is sorta my attempt at a sad fic, but I'm not a sad person so it may not be very good...

Erm, oh, and I'm taking suggestions on whether you want this to remain a one-shot, or if I should give it chapters... Thank you! -Bows- Either way I'm totally making another Ren-centric fic! n.n

Wow... I've actually said everything I wanted to say... O.o Goodness...

Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING in this story... damn...

**Not Alone**

_Authoress- Saddie_

**Chapter 1- Not So Happy Birthday**

The sounds of happy chatter floated up the empty staircase, seeming to bring a sort of warmth to the large house. A soft light illuminated the barrier of the upper and lower levels, giving the higher ground a cold, lonesome feel. Despite all this, Tao Ren would not join them, no; tonight he wouldn't leave his room.

He sat on his soft, well-stuffed bed, elbows resting on his knees and head held up only by his palms. A thin sliver of moonlight streamed through the heavy, maroon curtains, falling across his back, making his bare ivory skin appear to glow. The multiple scars lacing his otherwise flawless flesh were accented by the scarce light.

He heaved a sigh and raised his head slightly, raven hair cascaded down his thin shoulders; he had let it fall loose from its usual spike, to assume a more… natural position. He glanced at the glowing numbers of the digital alarm clock on his bedside table… 11:45… 15 minutes…

A laugh reached his ears from downstairs; he dropped his head back down and massaged his temples with his fingertips.

Some part of him wanted to go down and join them, but the logical part of him argued otherwise. He would not contaminate the others; he refused to stain the atmosphere with his awkward presence. _They are all so pure…_ Yoh… Manta… Horo… Chocolove… Ryo… Pirika… Tamao… Hell, even Anna… Around them he felt so… unclean… so tainted. But that wasn't their intentions… no, they had always welcomed him, accepted him… and really… that just caused his feelings of worthlessness to grow. After all he had done, they could still forgive him, give him a second chance. No. He wouldn't ruin this for them, their night of fun.

11:48… That's why he hadn't told them… if he had, then they would have done something to celebrate, but this wasn't something that deserved celebrating. An occasion like this should be spent as it was, alone and in the dark.

On this note, Ren sprawled backwards on his bed, spreading his arms and letting his hair fan out like a halo.

There was a knock at the door, Ren stayed perfectly still, hoping that by doing so the person would assume him to be sleeping and leave; no such luck.

"Ren? Ren! REN!" the voice of HoroHoro called as his pounding increased in volume. The irritated Chinese shaman flung open the door and got rapped on the head by a fist of pale knuckles.

"Dammit baka Ainu, what do you want?" Ren growled, glaring non-stop at the flustered teen.

"Um, I-I was wondering if you want to come count down with us?" he asked, scratching the back of his head nervously. The Tao raised an eyebrow.

"If I wanted to join you, do you not think I would be down there already?" Ren retorted. Horo stuck out his bottom lip in a pout.

"Fine! No need to be such a bastard about it!" the blunet shouted before spinning around and storming back to the t.v room.

Ren slowly shut the door, mentally berating himself for acting so irritably with his teammate. He really hadn't met to hurt Horo's feelings, he could only hope it didn't ruin the spirited blunet's night. He was assured that it wouldn't by the sound of Horo's amused voice alerting his fine-tuned ears.

11:59… It would begin soon… Speak of the devil, as they say.

"10, 9, 8…" everyone in the room appeared to have joined in. Ren could almost picture what it must look like; Yoh would be sitting on the couch, Anna cuddled up close, his arms would be wrapped in a protective gesture around her small frame. Manta would be sitting next to him, his eyes wide in excitement at the idea of the first new year with his new friends. Horo and Chocolove would probably have their arms over each other's shoulders in a friendly gesture, the loudest noisemakers they could find in their other hands. Tamao and Pirika would be leaning over Yoh and Anna's shoulders, hands clasped in eager anticipation, while Ryo would be thinking up his New Year's Resolutions; probably to get a new girlfriend… Ren felt a pang in his heart, they wouldn't miss him, they probably wouldn't even notice he wasn't there.

"7, 6, 5…" Tears welled up in the Chinese shaman's golden eyes; he would only ever dare to cry in the safety and privacy of his own room.

"4, 3, 2…" By now Ren was counting down in his mind.

"1! Happy New Year!" they cried as the number on the clock turned to 12:00. But as everyone else was celebrating the passing of the old and the beginning of the new, one solitary voice, in the isolation of his room, whispered, "Happy Birthday…"

With that, the now 16-year-old Tao Ren curled into a ball on his bed and let his tears fall, as he cried himself to sleep.

About twenty minutes afterward, the celebrations had ended and everyone had retired to their respective rooms, except one. A single figure padded silently down the empty hall towards the small door at the end of the hall. With practiced ease the wood swung open soundlessly, allowing the person entrance to the sleeping Tao's room. With silent steps the form approached the bed; the nearly inexistent light did nothing to reveal the stranger's appearence.

The shadow lowered itself onto the side of the mattress and caressed Ren's cheek softly, wiping away the remains of the tears that once flowed freely.

"Happy Birthday Ren… You're not as alone as you think…"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Heh, so what'd ya think? Should I leave it as it is, or make a series? I don't care either way... Just a warning, if I do continue, more than likely the rating will go higher, I can't help myself... -.n


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